Kaayla
by Fireheart3205
Summary: He thought she died. She should have died. But when a year later she shows up alive and well, he's beyond happy and excited. There's only one problem, she doesn't remember him and is trying to stop him and his crew. What will Luffy do?
1. I Live to Die Another Day

**Author's Note: **

As you can see I have completely changed the beginning of the story. Some of you ma like this, and some of you may be completely pissed at me for this. I am strangely okay with that. I have made big changes with the story, and have started to get it really written down, instead of the head case story it was before. I do plan on continuing this further than it was before. A warning to you before reading, I am largely writing this as I go, whenever the muse hits me, so updating may be few and sporadic. But do not fear for I have a determination to finish this monster, for I am not dead yet. You may celebrate.

If you think you can handle slow updates, then go ahead and read. Enjoy and criticize to your hearts content. I mean it, rip the ever loving Hell out of it, I laugh at flames, but I am a shameless complement fisher, so keep those rolling too. All editing marks will be taken with the utmost seriousness; if I'm not laughing, that is.

Have Fun!

-Fireheart3205

* * *

So clever, whatever, I'm done with these endeavors  
Alone I'll walk the winding way (here I stay)  
It's over, no longer, I feel it growing stronger  
I live to die another day, until I fade away

Why give up? Why give in?  
It's not enough, it never is  
So I will go on until the end  
We've become, desolate  
It's not enough, it never is  
But I will go on until the end

**-****"****Until****the****End****" ****by****Breaking****Benjamin**

* * *

Prologue

**I live to die another day, until I fade away**

I never looked too deeply back on my life. First of all there wasn't really anything there to remember, and what I did remember was much too dark and depressing to even be worth contemplating. My life just had a bad habit of sucking like that.

Rushing through the crowds towards the crew that I had come to accept as my family and the man that had stolen my heart, I was sure that my life might not be as bad as I first thought. Ducking under a blade and dodging the discharge of a gun, I ran.

I ran pushing my body towards its limits, I ran towards those that I had betrayed, I ran in hopes of fixing it all, I ran to escape, I ran in fear, I ran towards my past, I ran to my future, more importantly I ran to him. I had spent the last couple of years running; never staying in one place long, for my fear drove me to run.

But then I met _them_.

Skidding I swung around a corner, punching one man in the face while dodging another mans sword. The fight was getting brutal. Blood was spattered on the street and corpses lay haphazardly on the ground. It made for a gruesome sight. Had it been any other situation I would have been long gone by now, taking what I needed and slipping away like water on river rocks, avoiding the fight before it got too bloody.

It was for _them _now that I stayed.

They who held the keys to past and future, it was _them_ who had finally given me a reason to stop running. I was done running from my past, done avoiding the world around me; I was ready to face my future now. In the distance I could see the clock tower; they would need my help if they were going to save the people in square in time. Even if they didn't trust me anymore.

Despite my betrayal I would save them. It was a noble thing to do, was it not? To save those you loved, even if they did not love you?

With sweat beading across my temples, my heart pounding in my ears and my breath coming out in pants, I dashed through the chaotic square. Praying above all that I was not too late.

"THE **CLOCK-TOWER**! IT'S IN THE _**CLOCK-TOWER**_!"

For they had made my life worth watching.

* * *

Surround me, it's easy, to fall apart completely  
I feel you creeping up again (In my Head)  
It's over, no longer, I feel it growing colder  
I knew this day would come to end, so let this life begin

Why give up? Why give in?  
It's not enough, it never is  
So I will go on until the end  
We've become, desolate  
It's not enough, it never is  
But I will go on until the end

**-****"****Until****the****End****" ****by****Breaking****Benjamin**

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it.

Please comment, review, flame, criticism, send a greeting, (Insert choice of communication here), below. I need feedback.

Isn't the button so cute? Don't you want to click it?

Until Next Time!


	2. Can't Hear Me Scream From the Abyss

_**Important**_** A****uthor's Note:**

Hey People! If your reading this, It means that either A) you paid attention to the **_Important _**at the beginning, B) you always read the author's notes, or C) you went straight to the story and thought _'What the Hell is going on?'_ and came up here to find out. Well I changed the Prologue, completely re-did it. So go back and read it, it's good I promise. Some of you might notice that this sounds the sane as the old prologue, and you would be partly right. It is the old prologue re-done that I thought sounded better as a first Chapter. There is new material on the way I promise. It is in my computer it just has to be edited. If I feel up to it, it might be uploaded by Friday, but I need lots of encouragement.

So until then read this! You won't regret it!

-Fireheart3205

* * *

Tonight I'm so alone  
This sorrow takes ahold  
Don't leave me here so cold  
(Never want to be so cold)

Your touch used to be so kind  
Your touch used to give me life  
I've waited all this time, I've wasted so much time

Don't leave me alone  
Cause I barely see at all  
Don't leave me alone, I'm

Falling in the black  
Slipping through the cracks  
Falling to the depths can I ever go back  
Dreaming of the way it used to be  
Can you hear me  
Falling in the black  
Slipping through the cracks  
Falling to the depths can I ever go back  
Falling inside the black  
Falling inside falling inside the black  
**-"Falling Inside the Black" by Comatose **

Chapter 1

**Can't hear me scream from the abyss**

_It's dark. Where am I?_

She didn't understand, why it was so dark, this endless space of nothingness that gave no sense of direction or time. For all she knew she could be hanging upside down or sideways and a hundred years could have gone by.

_I feel so numb._

She couldn't feel a thing. Her hand could have been waving frantically in front of her face and she wouldn't notice. There was a strange heaviness to her body, as if she were underwater. She was certain that she wasn't underwater though, how she knew that, she couldn't say, she just did.

_What happened?_

It must have been bad. People only asked that question when something terrible occurred and it was either something traumatic that their brains temporally or permanently erased it from their memories or they walked in on the aftermath. She was positive that she was in the former category, she wasn't exactly sure if she wanted the memory back though. Then, like a rockslide, it hit her.

_Son of a Bitch!_

It was pure agony, there was a raging fire burning all throughout her body. She was in Hell, of that she was now certain. She felt as if someone had pulled her body through a small tube and then laid her upon a bed of nails with six ton slab of stone for a blanket; she was convinced that the tube and bed had both been on fire. She wondered what Great Celestial Being she had pissed off and if it was too late to offer the village idiot as an apology sacrifice. Her breath hissed out through her clenched teeth.

It took her a moment to realize that the throbbing in her chest was actually her heartbeat.

_Of course. Being dead wouldn't hurt this much. _

There was one good thing that she realized as her body started to spasm; at least she had hands and feet.

Along with the pain coursing through her body, she started to regain feeling in her extremities and slowly from there to the rest of her body. Shoving the torturous pain to the back of her mind, she lightly flexed her fingers.

_Sand._

She most defiantly felt sand under her hands. Burning hot, gritty sand that slipped through her fingers as her fist clenched. This hot sand wasn't the cause for the burning in her body, though it didn't help. Part of the burn seemed to be coming from the unrelenting sun that shone down onto her. Registering this she did the only thing she could think of. She moaned.

_Holy Hell._

It hurt like nothing else. Slowly sound started to filter into her mind. It was then that she realized that she wasn't as alone as she first thought. Someone was calling out to her.

"Hey, you okay? Are you awake? Can you hear me? Hey, _Hey!_"

_Shut up. Just let me die in peace. _Her wish was not to be granted though. The voice persisted in calling out to her, till she was ready to strangle them, pain be dammed.

"Can you _hear me?_"

She did the only thing she could think of, she moaned. _No, I'm dead. Does it look like I can answer you, you moron?_ The voice, not being able to here her thoughts, seamed to take this as a positive.

"Oh, good, I was starting to get worried." They sighed in relief. "I was afraid you were dead. You look dead."

_Thank you, that makes me feel so much better. _Was she usually this sarcastic? Maybe it was an exception because she was in pain. It was with that thought that all the pain rushed to the forefront of her mind, causing her to whimper. _God dammit._

"Don't move. You're covered in third degree burns, and you look pretty banged up. My brother left to get our parents. They'll help you. Don't worry." It was only now that she noticed that the voice was female and young.

"I'm Haruhi by the way." She thought it was a pretty name; she wanted to open her eyes to see the face that went with the name, even though a minute ago she wanted to rip out the girl's throat for aggravating the pounding in her head. Had it been under different circumstances she would have sat up and introduced herself, but her eyelids felt _so heavy _and she _hurt __**so**__ much_. It was then that she was hit by a very crucial detail.

_Who am I?_

She paused, but nothing came to mind, no matter how much she strained to remember. This was bad. She scrambled and concentrated, but only came up blank. No name, no past. And certainly not what got her into this situation in the first place. Worst of all she realized that her grip on consciousness was slipping. This was _really _Bad, with a capital letter and everything.

"Hey. Hey! Stay awake!" She was trying, couldn't the girl realize that? She was fading to fast to pull herself back up.

"_Hey!_" It was then that something slipped through her mind. Flashing by quickly, slipping through her mental fingers, before fading into the dark abyss of her mind slipping through like water, before she could grasp it. It was a name. It was important, not her own name, but just as close to her heart. It was gone in a flash leaving her only with a gaping sense of lose and loneliness.

_Luffy_

And with that, she fainted.

* * *

You were my source of strength  
I've traded everything  
That I love for this one thing  
(Stranded in the offering)

Don't leave me here like this  
Can't hear me scream from the abyss  
And now I wish for you my desire

Don't leave me alone  
Cause I barely see at all  
Don't leave me alone, I'm

Falling in the black  
Slipping through the cracks  
Falling to the depths can I ever go back  
Dreaming of the way it used to be  
Can you hear me  
Falling in the black  
Slipping through the cracks  
Falling to the depths can I ever go back  
Falling inside the black  
Falling inside falling inside the black  
Black, black, black

**-"Falling Inside the Black" by Comatose**

* * *

Seems familiar doesn't it? It really gave a lot of trouble, one of the reasons it took so long to update.

Well how was it?

Who is this girl and how does she know Luffy? You'll just have to read and find out.

Reviews make me go faster. So Do It!

Until Next Time!


	3. I Was Waiting On A Different Story

**Author's Note:**

So here we are again, a new chapter, every one of you reading this should be grateful, I have only seen two reviews on my story, very depressing, but here I am uploading a new chapter anyways. Praise me. Anyways things start to move along here, but is kind of slow in my opinion, this chapter is mostly just Kaayla's thoughts and reactions to Zoro and Mihawk's fight. Not too much going on, but we do find out more about her and her personality. Oh! Before I forget, I know some people hate when it's not announced, but I forgot. For those of you who haven't figured it out, yes, Kaayla is an OC, but not a Mary-sue. If you call her that I swear you will wake up in the middle on the night with her leaning over your bed ready to rip your heart out with aCheshiregrin. Consider yourself warned.

Moving on, the story will pick up; it just needs time to take its first wobbly steps before it completely runs out of my hands and control. I think the plot line is good, I might be biased but it will be worth it for you to keep reading I promise, tell all your friends and enemies to read it as well, the more the merrier and the less people Kaayla kills.

So forward march! Into the Great Unknown we go!

-Fireheart3205

* * *

Never made it as a wise man,  
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'.  
Tired of livin' like a blind man,  
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feelin,  
And this is how you remind me

This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am  
This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am

It's not like you to say sorry  
I was waiting on a different story  
This time I'm mistaken  
For handing you a heart worth breakin'  
And I've been wrong, I've been down  
Been to the bottom of every bottle  
These five words in my head  
Scream "Are we having fun yet?"

**-"How You Remind Me" by Nickelback**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

I Was Waiting On A Different Story

Sometimes she really hated her life, well the life she could remember. The life of working for an insensitive asshole who seemed to take sort of sick pleasure out of her working for him. On a bad day she just wanted to rip the smirk right off his face and beat the ever-loving crap out of him, on a good one she only wanted to wipe the smirk off. Some days she didn't know why she even bothered opening her eyes, and some days she just laid there and thought. On those days she would think over the last two years of her life and marvel at all the crap that she had gone through. Few good things happed to her, one such thing she considered to be very important above all, she had learned her name.

Kaayla.

That one word, a simple six letters lined up together gave her a hope she would have never had otherwise, somewhere in the vast world she had lived, instead of just existing as she did now. Someone had loved her enough to give her a name.

The family that found her had found the name tattooed on her right shoulder-blade. It had become a long-standing joke within the small family that she was only person in the world who needed a permanent name tag, and that she shouldn't worry because losing her memory must have been a common occurrence.

_Assholes. _Kaayla loved the family, she truly did, but they had the misfortune of constantly granting on her nerves, Haruhi especially. Kaayla counted herself lucky that there had been only four of them. Haruhi had been the girl who had found Kaayla unconscious on the beach two years ago. Cody was her younger brother, the boy who had raced back to retrieve their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Vanberkun had responded to their sons calls and raced down to the beach. Taking only a second to examine the strange girl on the beach, before Mr. Vanberkun scooped Kaayla up and carried her back to their house instructing Mrs. Vanberkun to call the local doctor as she went. Kaayla had been badly injured, according to the doctor she was covered in seconded degree burns, large cuts, and had a nasty bump on her head. This is most likely what had caused her memory loss. The whole family had been rather plain looking with brown hair, light blue colored eyes and kind features, the parents more-so than their kids, which was offset by their sarcastic humor. Kaayla would always hold a special place in her heart for them though, for they had taken her in when she had no place to go or an identity to cling to.

But that was all in the past now, the family was gone and Kaayla was now currently working for a slave-driver, asshole of a boss. Which lead to her present situation of sitting in a tiny row-boat tailing Hawk Eyes Mihawk from the Grand Line into the East Blue, bemoaning what her life had become.

"Oh, here we go _again_." She moaned as she saw a large falling apart ship in the distance. Mihawk had been pursuing Don Kreig and what was left of his crew for days. After having all but one of his ships destroyed by Mihawk, Kreig had fled the Grand Line, Mihawk had fallowed after, and on orders Kaayla had fallowed him. "You're killing me now." She groaned, scowling up at the heavens, but continued to trail Mihawk, careful to stay out of his sight. Her Boss had explicitly ordered her to keep tabs on Mihawk and report back on his _every_ action or there _would be terrible consequences. _She really didn't want to find out what those consequences were, she had seen enough from other crew members who had failed. "What I really need is minions." That would work.

So with a heavy pout she watched uninterestedly as Mihawk sliced the large ship in pieces, she had, after all just recently seen him take out all of its sister ships. Feeling the wood of the oar she clenched tightly dig into her hand, she lowered her sails and hid her tiny vessel among the new wreckage. Listening in on the conversation between Mihawk and Kreig's crew members, she was hardly surprised when Mihawk said he was here, "Killing time." She didn't put it past the bastard, she did feel sorry for Time though, Mihawk seemed to kill the poor thing a lot.

Staring uninterestedly at Mihawk, she took stock of her surroundings. She was surprised to note that the wreckage was practically on the doorstep of a floating restaurant that she had only heard rumors of, _The Baratie. _Kaayla had always wanted to go, but had never been able to sneak away from her Boss long enough to actually come. She hoped that the pirates around her didn't destroy it; maybe she could sneak a meal before taking off after Mihawk again. The cooks seemed like they could take care of themselves against the pirates, armed with their culinary-shaped weapons. She hoped they could fight as well as she heard they cooked. _Mhmmm…Food…_

So lost in her daydream of eating the _Baratie's_ food, that she almost missed the young, cocky swords-man confronting Mihawk, it wasn't until she heard the "Lets duel, shall we?", that she tuned back in.

_What the Hell? _She was hallucinating, that was the only explanation, it had to be, but as she pulled a stand of her midnight black hair into her line of sight, she had to concede that maybe she wasn't hallucinating after all.

_His hair… it's… Green…_

The young man who had called out to Mihawk _really_ did have a head of green hair. Kaayla couldn't believe it, she had seen many strange things, she had been living on the Grand Line after all, but she had never seen anyone with green hair. _Like moss._

_Moss-head. _

Quickly clamping her hands to her mouth she tried to muffle the snickers that were fighting to escape, it wouldn't do to be discovered now, but it really was pretty comical.

It was only when she noticed that Moss-head, as she hadn't heard his name, was unsheathing his swords, that she remembered that the reckless idiot had just challenged Mihawk to a duel. Her snickers came to an abrupt stop and she felt all the blood drain from her face, no one who had any common sense or self-preservation challenged Mihawk, and those that didn't posses either and challenged him anyways, were quick to lose their lives. A fact that became strikingly apparent to her when she started tailing him.

"Just what does this Moss-head think he's doing?" Kaayla hissed out quietly as she nervously smoothed out her simple, floor-length, blue dress. "He's going to die." She muttered with conviction, she had seen it happen a million times before and had grown used to it, but somehow this one was different. For whatever reason, Kaayla wanted this one to live. So it was with apprehension shining in her ocean blue eyes that she watched Mihawk jump aboard the ship wreckage and pull out his smallest sword. It took her a moment, but she realized by pulling out that toy sword, Mihawk was mocking Moss-head. The mocking did not go unnoticed if the pissed off expression on Moss-heads face was anything to go by. Watching the ensuing fight, where Moss-head gave everything he had and Mihawk barely put in any effort, that it became obvious who the winner was, who the winner had been from before this fight had started.

_Why does it always come to this? I don't want to sit by and watch another die while I do nothing. Not again. _She had enough guilt built up from her life, there wasn't much more of it that she could take. Blocking out the rest of the world, she focused completely on the fight in front of her. Under orders of her Boss she was not to reveal herself, so she constantly had to watch man after man fall to Mihawks sword, and sit by and do nothing. She hated it. Some of them did deserve it, she would admit to that, but some were no older than the young man in front of her and had a long full life in front of them only for it to be cut short. Even so, after have seeing all those men fall, a small unused corner of her heart still silently cheered for the green-haired young man with the three swords. It was when the tension reached its peak that she knew something huge, life-altering was about to happen.

Slowly, Kaayla untangled one of her hands from where it had been gripping and clutching white-knuckled at her dress, up to her mouth and softly bit the skin between her thumb and fingers. She could feel the tension all the way down deep into her bones, her breath came out in short, shallow pants, and-

_Ohmygod, I'm going insane. _

And then they moved. It was over in a blink of an eye, ending with Mihawks tiny toy sword thrust into Moss-heads chest, straight over his heart. Kaayla's heart stopped, and everything was still, until Mihawk spoke.

"Do you wish to have this go through your heart? Why don't you step back?" This time Kaayla could clearly hear everything that they were saying instead of having to decipher word from background noise, her hiding spot really didn't give her optimal hearing.

"I don't know. I'm not sure why myself. But if I were to take one step back, I believe that all those important oaths, promises, and many other deals 'til now, will all go to waste and I'll never be able to return before you, ever again." Never in all her life (well the two years she could remember), had she ever felt like commending and strangling the same person simultaneously like she wanted to do to the Moss-head right now.

"Yes, and that called 'losing'." That was a point that she had to agree on with, with Mihawk, and that in and of itself made her want to laugh and cry hysterically at the same time. _She didn't_ _**like**__ Mihawk, __**dammit**__._ She admired him, yes, but she. Just. _**Did. Not**_._**Like**_.Him.

"That's why I can't step back." Was the Moss-head _laughing_? Kaayla didn't see what part of this was so funny, and usually she could laugh at just about anything, even while being hung over a pit of crocodiles during feeding time like a piece of meat, but that was another story.

Yes, she was aware that she was a bipolar, insane, bitch, Thank You very much.

"Even if it means death?" Judging from the Moss-heads actions, Kaayla would guess that, yes even if it did mean death. _Really I thought that would be blaringly obvious. _

"Death may be better." This, this was the line that made Kaayla want to pick up her oar, run over, and beat all the stupidity straight out of the Moss-head. She understood the pride of being a swords-man, _hell_ she was one herself, but for whatever reason she didn't want the Moss-head to die. _He's interesting, dammit, (she hadn't found anyone interesting since she started working for her Boss, everything just seemed so bleak), and his hair… it's green!_

_Live goddammit!_

Life was much too precious to just throw away, even if a person lived a life similar to Kaayla.

It was when Mihawk drew sword out of Moss-heads chest and stepped back that she finally noticed the metallic taste in her mouth, she had bitten right through the skin on her hand and it had started to bleed. This realization was pushed out of her head at Mihawks next words.

"Kid, announce your name."

"Roronoa Zoro." It was official, Kaayla now felt like the worlds biggest air-head. She had heard of Roronoa, the famed Pirate Hunter, who in the East Blue hadn't, she used to live here, for gods sake. _Three swords! _That was a blaring neon sign itself. But…

_What's he doing here with Pirates? _She could tell that he wasn't hunting them; it was in the air around him, he didn't give a dame about these pirates, never did, even before Mihawk showed up.

"I'll remember that! It's been a while since I've seen such strong will. As a reward, a gesture to a fellow swordsman, I will wield this 'Black Sword', the most powerful sword in the world, to end your life." As a young woman of about seventeen Kaayla could honestly say that, that was the most messed up thing she had ever heard, but as a swords man she would be honored, which was the most twisted, creepy, and scariest thing she had ever felt. _I feel sick._

"I appreciate your offer." Of course he does, now he can brag to all the other dead ghosts he encounters that his life was abruptly ended by the 'worlds strongest sword', which in a way sounds pretty cool, except for the fact that _he would still be dead!_ Whatever the tension had been like before, it was nothing compared to what it was now. She could hear Don Kreig's crew freaking out, but she was paying too close attention to the two swordsmen in front of her, to give any real notice. This was it, this was the determining point as to whether Roronoa Zoro lived or died, and to be honest she didn't have too much hope for the former.

Splinters from her oar were digging into her hand, blood from her cut was being smeared into the wood and running down the side as she leaned forward to watch the two men race towards one another, she could hear other people screaming, and then-

They were past each other. It was still for one moment… and then Roronoa's swords were broken and he was spewing blood from a giant slice on his chest.

When she saw Roronoa sheath his one intact sword and stand up she breathed a sigh of relief, at least he was well enough to move, he would live.

She should have known better.

When Roronoa got up, turned around, and presented his chest as a blaring target, she wanted to scream, was it really that possible for someone to be so _stupid_, and again Roronoa had her agreeing with Mihawk, "What now?", indeed. Only she would have sounded much more pissed off than his casual curiosity.

"Attacking from behind is a shameful act among swordsmen."

_Oh. _

Kaayla understood now, and reluctantly she couldn't help but agree, even so she still wanted to yell at him while simultaneously trying to beat some sense into him with her oar.

"Well said." And with that Mihawk struck. Kaayla heard screaming, but at this point she wasn't sure if it was her or somebody else. _So much blood._ Could someone lose that much blood and live, it was flying everywhere. Kaayla felt cold, there was a hallow feeling in her abdomen, she felt numb and vaguely horrified. Why did she care? What about this moss-head was different from the countless others she had seen struck down in the almost exact same way, she had never even spoke to him, _goddammit! _

She could hear more screaming, Kreig's crew was in shock, and Roronoa was falling into the water, but none of that registered in her mind. It wasn't until the wreaked side of the ship she had been hiding behind exploded, that she noticed anything, and the only thing she did then was quickly jump over the side of her boat to hide in the water. Peering up to the surface she could see the head of boy about her age protruding from the wood. He didn't seem to have noticed her hasty escape into the water or her tiny boat, and she breathed a mental sigh of relief. _Just take a bit of my heart, why don't you._ He had come much too close to her for her comfort, practically had his head in her chest. She should have noticed someone speeding straight into her hiding spot, but she had been in too much shock from Moss-heads defeat.

_Screw it! That's what I'm calling him now. He can just deal with it._

But with a tightening in her chest she realized that he may not live long enough for her to call him that, and even if they did meet (Which she highly doubted), it would be the best for him to not associate with her. Her life as a spy was complicated enough without dragging someone else through this madness.

When Kaayla glanced back up at the surface, the boy's head was gone; slowly she swam out of the water and carefully climbed back into her boat. Glancing out at the open water she could see Moss-head being held up by two men and carefully hoisted into a small boat by a third man with a long nose. It was then that she saw that he was still breathing, and something in her chest relaxed.

"It is still too early for you to die. My name is Juraquille Mihawk! Find your true self, true world, become stronger! No matter how long it takes, I will await you in my strongest form! Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!" It was with that declaration that all the air whooshed out of Kaaylas chest. _No way! _She felt the cold water from her hair slide down her back, and a chill raced down her spin, but it wasn't from the water. Moss-head had to be one of the only people Kaayla had seen Mihawk let live, _and for Mihawk to tell Moss-head to surpass him…_

Boss would want to know.

"Kid, what's your mission?" While Kaayla had been lost in her world of disbelief, Mihawk had turned to the young boy sitting behind him, whose face Kaayla recognized as the face she had seen crash into the side of the wreaked ship, practically into her lap.

"Pirate King!" Was he _insane?_ Better yet was he with Moss-head? She had vaguely heard the kid scream Moss-heads name, did they make up a crew of the mentally disturbed? _Pirate King! _She wanted to laugh hysterically again, why did she always end up around the weirdo's? Kaayla had never claimed to be sane, in fact she was pretty dame sure that she at least a little unstable, but this was a bit too much for her right now.

"That's a difficult path, harder than surpassing me." _Nooo…You think, Captain Obvious?_ Kaayla was half tempted to roll her eyes but didn't, she didn't want to miss any thing going on in front of her.

"Like I care, 'cuz I'm going to become one anyway!" Kaayla liked this guy; he reminded her of herself on a good day, not that she had many of those anymore. She even forgave him for scaring the living hell out of her earlier. Making faces at Mihawk though was not the smartest move anyone had ever mad, the last one she remembered was disemboweled and strung up by his intestines. The fact that this guy was still alive and Mihawk was laughing spoke of his good mood. _Today's just full of surprises isn't it?_

Lost in her thoughts for a moment she didn't notice that the boy's attention had diverted away from Mihawk, until she heard him call Moss-heads name. It was then that she saw the flash of the sun reflecting off the sword in the air.

"Luffy, can you hear me?" The grievously wounded swordsman called out from where he lay at the bottom of the tiny boat. _Luffy? _Kaayla froze, barely reregistering the world around her.

"Yeah!" Luffy answered. _Luffy?_

"Sorry for worrying you." _He'd better be_. But this was only an automatic reaction. Kaayla's entire attention was focused on the black haired boy in front of her. _Luffy? _"If I don't become the greatest swordsman in the world you'd be in a dilemma now, right?" The cough that fallowed sounded extremely painful. _Luffy?_

"I will… I will never…LOSE AGAIN!" Moss-head was crying now, Kaayla could hear it in his voice, and it was with a start that she realized that she was too. Great, giant tears that streaked down her face, leaving behind a glistening trail of salt water. _Luffy? _She whimpered. "Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I won't be defeated anymore!" Kaayla's shoulders were shaking now, and she was muffling her sobs with the hand she stuffed into her mouth. "Any problem with that, Pirate King?" Tears were streaming down her face, but it had nothing to do with Moss-head's speech, and everything to do with the black haired boy standing in front of her.

"None!" His voice only made her cry harder, as her whole body trembled and shook. She couldn't remember, something was there, she could feel it, something very dear and important to her heart, _she just __**couldn't**__ remember! _But some small hidden part of her, buried deep within the fog of her missing memories, rejoiced. '_Luffy!'_ It cried joyously, '_Luffy's here'!_ But its cry fell on deaf ears, for she could not hear it.

"Good team. I hope we will meet again." With that Mihawk turned and walked back to his boat, _or is it his coffin? _Did Mihawk want a sea burial? Kaayla was always confused about that, maybe he did it for intimidation. She could believe it. Absent-mindedly whipping away her tears, she almost missed Don Kreig's words.

"Hold on there, Hawk Eyes! Didn't you come here for my head? East Blues greatest, Don Kreig's head?" _Was that an invitation? Honestly, why would you remind him? _

"That was my initial intention. But I've had more than enough fun. I'm heading back to sleep." _Seriously?_ Kaayla could feel the deadpan expression on her face, she was anything but surprised. It did help her to know that even when she was having a minor break down, some things never changed, she felt a tiny bit calmer, up until Kreig pulled out his mini-armory of guns.

"It may have been fun for you, but I haven't had my turn yet." Even his crew was questioning his sanity. "Die before you go!" And with that he fired.

Mihawk unsheathed his sword and disappeared in the smoke, as Kreigs crew was blasted off the wreckage. Kaayla could feel the splinters digging into her palm as she madly paddled away from the battle ground to a safer spot. Her boat wasn't idiot proof, so obviously getting to close to Kreig was liable to get her killed.

"He got away." Kreig remarked disappointed, Kaayla couldn't believe him, she scowled heavily in his direction from her new hiding spot, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Luffy hanging from the rail of the Baratie. _How'd he get over there so fast?_

"Usopp!" She noticed one of the men on Moss-head's boat respond, the one, she noticed, with the long noise, and terrified expression. "Get going! Take care of Nami."

_Nami?_

"Gotcha! Me and Zoro will get Nami back! You just make that cook one of us! Then we'll make a party of five and head to the Grand Line!" Usopp then threw a straw hat he had been carrying into the air, an action which confused Kaayla, until-

_Holy Shit!_

"Yeah! Now go!" Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed the hat. Kaayla was startled for about point five seconds, she had seen mush stranger things in the Grand Line, and some part of her seemed to expect this. Still, it wasn't everyday you saw a person's are streach like a rubber-band. Deep within the Fog of her mind, something smiled.

"Men! With the interruption gone, the real fight is about to begin! Let's get that ship!" All of Kreigs men cheered wildly. _He wants the Baratie? The Hell! What for? There are literally hundreds of better ships out there for pirates, why don't they go steal one of those instead of a floating restaurant shaped like a fish. Idiots!_

Kaayla felt torn, she didn't know whether she should stay, fallow Moss-head, or try and catch up to Mihawk. In the end she choose to stay, justifying that she couldn't leave without being noticed, and that Boss would find information on Luffy more interesting. If she had known about what was to come in the coming fight she would have chosen to fallow Moss-head.

* * *

"Men! As long as we have that ship, we won't need to fear the Grand Line anymore!" Kaayla had to marvel at theses people's stupidity. That restaurant wouldn't do squat for them on the Grand Line. "This is better than disguising as a marine ship!" That may have been true, but a marine ship could actually survive on the Grand Line. "Or to give up by waving a white flag." _What?_ "This ship will make it easier to get near the enemy and make a raid! It's perfect for carrying out deceptive tactics."

"After looking at that ship, no one will expect it to be full of pirates." Now his crew was on board with this crazy plot, she couldn't watch, there stupidity was painful.

"So their cowards," She hissed her conclusion into her palm, where she had buried her face to avoid looking at Kreig and his men. "I don't like them." She felt the wide smile form on her face. Too bad she had to stay undercover, she would have enjoyed kicking their asses.

"But… Don, what happens when we met someone like Hawk Eyes Mihawk on the Grand Line again?" It was nice to know that at least one person on that crew used their brains. Kaayla's head jerked up at the sound of a gunshot and a fallowing splash. Taking a look at Kreigs still smoking gun and the empty space in front of him, confirmed that the crew member was no long in existence. _And their goes the brains of the crew._

"What are you still afraid of?" Kreig grunted.

"No… Kreig…" One crew man bravely answered.

"Do you think normal men can split ships in one stroke? That is the power of the Devil Fruit. According to legend there are lots of people in the Grand Line who posses the power of the Devil Fruit. Like Mihawk who must have used a special power to split the ship apart. That straw hat kid won't be anything special once he enters the Grand Line." There was one thing that bothered Kaayla about Kreigs speech; it was all true, yes, but_ what about when you enter the Grand Line Ape-face?_ "However Red-leg Zeff had been there for a whole year. I can only guess that Zeff had some sort of strategy to confront those monsters. A strategy that he should have written down in some sort of journal he posses. Also information about One Piece might be included."

"I see! You're so great Don Kreig!" The plan made more sense to Kaayla now, but the praise seemed a little over the top. Leaning back slightly, Kaayla rested more fully against her tiny boat's mast, a long fight was about to break out, she could see it. Those cooks looked like they would fight against the pirates, and then Luffy was looking particularly eager. Cautiously she nudged her two swords closer to her hand with her foot, careful to not make a sound, if worse came to worse she wanted to at least be able to defend herself. "With that ships journal, we will have the opportunity to get One Piece!"

"Do you understand now, men? Let's go and steal that ship!" The shout from the crew members confirmed their willingness to fight. Letting her head thump against her mast Kaayla pouted, she wanted to fight too dammit! It had been far too long since she had a good brawl, stuck serving as a spy for Boss at the moment prevented her from being able to go all out.

"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" It was with that shout that told Kaayla that the battled had officially started. She straightened up and watched interestedly as Luffy stretched his arms and launched into the air. "Gomu Gomu no Scythe!" Kreig's crew members were then sent crashing into the water, and Luffy shot over to a mast peaking out of the water to avoid falling in. _Ape-face looks annoyed. _Kaayla smirked, that was a plus in her books.

"Way to go waiter boy!" Kaayla wasn't even going to ponder that one. No way, not on top of everything else.

"What… what the hell is he!" Kaayla thought that would have been obvious, but apparently not to the wimps floating on a piece of drift wood.

"He's a rubber-man." She mumbled, feeling something warm deep in her chest. He was confusing the hell out of her, she didn't know him, she had never met him before, but she had the strange urge to run up and hug him as hard as she could. She was starting to question her sanity, again. Forcing down her confusion she focused back on the fight.

"They gave you food to eat, but instead you attacked them!" _un…unforgivable!_ That was something you just didn't do, food was very, very, _very _important to Kaayla. She couldn't forgive anyone who attacked another after receiving food from them. "You don't know how the be grateful! I'll send you to the sky!" Kaayla wished she could do it herself, _ungrateful ass. _She scowled heavily at Kreig.

"You've chosen to fight on the sea where there is no where to stand. I know people who posses powers of the Devil Fruit fear the sea. Hammer-boy!" Kreig was laughing, but Kaayla couldn't help but smirk, _not all of them Ape-face. _

"But I can stretch instead!" It was then that everything started moving. She could see the Baratie shaking and the water around it started to move.

"What's that?" Luffy had a giant grin spread across his face and looked excited at this new development. Sometthing was moving towards the surface of the water, something big.

"From the sea… a platform appeared out of nowhere!" Kaayla could feel the stars in her eyes, for indeed their was a platform rising from the depths of the water forcing Kreigs men to swim out of the way.

"Wow! That's _so _cool!" Luffy shouted, Kaayla wanted to do the same, but held her tongue. It was then that she noticed the tall blonde chief decked in a black suit walk out.

"Why don't we fight here to our hearts content, pirate?"

"Oh, I see. The restaurant won't to be harmed. How convenient for us since were going to take it. Now I want this ship even more." Kaayla rolled her eyes at Kreig's arrogance, the man was a pain, she had killed others for annoying her as this man was.

"Don't you even think about having this restaurant!" The voice was little more than a growl, and at first Kaayla couldn't tell were it was coming from. Confused she craned her head around the piece of wrecked ship in front of her.

"Yeah! Don't underestimate us!" It was a different voice this time, leaning forward to get a better view she almost fell her out of her boat. Regaining her balance she pulled back, luckily, no one seemed to have noticed her. All of them were frozen trying to find the mysterious voices.

"We are fighting cooks!" That was an obvious fact; the chiefs in front of the restaurant were holding giant weapons shaped like cooking tools, and looked geared up to maim every pirate that tried to touch the restaurant.

"Lets go! Baratie's sea weapon 'Sabagashira #1'." It was then that she saw it. The front of the Baratie had detached, and became a small pedal boat. It was one of the strangest and coolest things Kaayla had ever seen, and she had seen a lot of strange things.

"Those who are afraid to die, grab your shoes and run!" It was the second voice again, coming straight from the fish.

"What is that?" Kreig sounded far from being afraid, he sounded like a rich, air-headed trophy wife does when confronted with a quadratic formula, flat, bored, and slightly incredulous.

"_Cool!_ I want one too!" Kaayla smiled, Luffy seemed to posses a rare ability to make her smile, something that not many people could do.

"Pedal faster!"

"I'm trying to!" The little fish boat was turning toward them now; Kaayla could see the flash of the sunlight on the cannons mounted in the mouth of the fish. It chugged quickly through the water, while the two chiefs argued inside for all to hear, Kaayla found it very amusing. It was at that moment that a very crucial and important fact struck Kaayla, a fact she should have noticed when the pedal fish boat turned around.

The cannons were pointed straight at her.

"Fire!"

_Oh Shit!_

* * *

It's not like you didn't know that  
I said I love you and I swear I still do  
And it must have been so bad  
Cause living with me must have damn near killed you

And this is how you remind me  
Of what I really am  
This is how you remind me  
Of what I really am

It's not like you to say sorry  
I was waiting on a different story  
This time I'm mistaken  
For handing you a heart worth breakin'  
And I've been wrong, I've been down  
Been to the bottom of every bottle  
These five words in my head  
Scream "Are we having fun yet?"

**-"How You Remind Me" by Nickelback**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Interesting wasn't it? Any guesses on who Kaayla's mysterious Boss is? How she knows Luffy? Her strange reaction to Zoro? Told you it would be good, and the plot will only continue to thicken as I throw in more plot twists. Oh yes, there is more to come.

Reviews will only encourage me to write faster, so start them rolling. The more review there are the more motivated I am, the faster it gets written, the sooner it is posted.

Until Next Time!

-Fireheart3205


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